June 15, 2026

DJ: While recently contemplating hopes and dreams for my life (and the ensuing fears of those hopes/ dreams not being realised) I stumbled upon what I felt to be the linchpin for this complex… the fear that if the instincts driving those hopes and dreams were eliminated, I may make what “I” deem to be “bad decisions”, or fail to take action towards those once held hopes and dreams. I see the circular logic is faulty since if the hopes and dreams were eliminated then the future “me” would likely have no negative response to them not being realised.

VINEETO: Hi Dj,

Do you have any hands-on, practical experience with applying the actualism method or are those “hopes and dreams” and the consequent “fear”, which you consider “the linchpin for this complex” that you will “fail to take action towards those once held hopes and dreams” are merely the result of armchair philosophising in a vacuum?

Do you realise that by taking no action (i.e. act) in regards to getting closer to those “hopes and dreams” of becoming actually free by applying the actualism method, you have already failed “to take action towards those once held hopes and dreams”? Your “circular logic” only serves to justify doing nothing.

DJ: Furthermore when trying to contemplate what life might be like without my goals and dreams in place, my mind projected an empty dreary future, devoid of colour. I recognise this may be a defence mechanism of the identity to keep the status quo, but it seems like what underpins this is a distrust of the actual world.

VINEETO: If your ‘contemplation’ (meaning: “deep, reflective thought or focused observation”) has only resulted in projecting “an empty dreary future, devoid of colour”, thereby demonstrating your obvious and ongoing ignorement/ ignoration of Richard’s descriptions of being actually free on The Actual Freedom Trust website, then your “defence mechanism of the identity” is presently so powerful that you are unable to even establish a sensible Prima Facie Case for an actual freedom from the human condition by reading with at least one eye open, if not both eyes open –

Richard: What I usually say is that there is sufficient information available on The Actual Freedom Trust web site to establish a prima-facie case worthy of further investigation – rather than capricious dismissal as having all been said before – and thus (intellectually) find out what actualism is on about ... and then see what happens.

In other words: what one can do is make a critical examination of all the words I advance so as to ascertain if they be intrinsically self-explanatory ... and only when they are seen to be inherently consistent with what is being spoken about, then the facts speak for themselves. Then one will have reason to remember a pure conscious experience (PCE), which all peoples I have spoken to at length have had, and thus verify by direct experience the facticity of what is written.

Then it is the PCE that is one’s lodestone or guiding light [a.k.a. ‘highest authority’] ... not me or my words. My words then offer confirmation ... and affirmation in that a fellow human being has safely walked this wide and wondrous path. (Richard, Abditorium, Prima Facie Case).

DJ: This context is leading to my question which is, without having had a PCE nor being able to remember one, how can I find/ develop a trust the actual world and allow myself to see the redundancy in hanging on to my feelings / instincts / hopes/ dreams etc.

VINEETO: It is this simple – as long as you are projecting “an empty dreary future, devoid of colour” when you read the words “an actual freedom from the human condition” or “a temporary abeyance of the identity” then the last thing you want is to experience, or remember, a PCE.

And here endeth the case for the defence of ‘me’, the all-powerful, all-convincing, always-right identity – ergo there is no need to change anything.

May I ask, why do you write to this actualist forum when you have such an iron-clad case for your “distrust of the actual world”? Do you expect others to change your mind for you?

If you are genuinely looking for some factual information for a change try browsing the index and content of the 32 “Commonly Raised Objections” and the 20 “Flogged Misconceptions” to give your next “deep, reflective thought or focused observation” some substance.

Cheers Vineeto

June 17, 2026

DJ: Hi Vineeto, thanks for your reply.

Yes I do have practical hands-on experience in applying the method, and have had some success with examining and dispelling beliefs and their corresponding emotional responses over the years. I am not armchair philosophising in a vacuum, I’m attempting to look at the hold outs I have as an identity.

VINEETO: (…)

DJ: The hopes and dreams I was referring to in my original post were the kind of hopes and dreams referenced in your “how to investigate feelings” article – those relating to things like material success in life, finding the perfect partner etc.

The circular pattern I was referring to was that of me as an identity fearing for example, not getting what “I” want, as it pertains to real world goals / dreams… and as a result being wary of letting go of those hopes and dreams for fear of them not happening the way that “I” want – and not being able to fully reconcile that by letting go of them, the future “me” won’t care whether they are realised or not.

VINEETO: Hi Dj,

Thank you for the clarifications.

I don’t really see a problem – if you are “wary of letting go of those hopes and dreams”, then don’t let go of them, keep them. You will find out in the process of your pursuit of “material success in life, finding the perfect partner” what happens. Being in hypothetical fear of a hypothetical future, which may or may not happen as you imagine, is a sheer waste of time.

*

VINEETO: If your ‘contemplation’ (meaning: “deep, reflective thought or focused observation”) has only resulted in projecting “an empty dreary future, devoid of colour”, thereby demonstrating your obvious and ongoing ignorement/ ignoration of Richard’s descriptions of being actually free on The Actual Freedom Trust website, then your “defence mechanism of the identity” is presently so powerful that you are unable to even establish a sensible Prima Facie Case for an actual freedom from the human condition by reading with at least one eye open, if not both eyes open – (…)

DJ: I have accepted the prima facie case as being valid. Nowhere have I dismissed the method or the goal of actualism as not valid. The empty dreary future was just something my mind projected out seemingly reflexively, and while I know feelings are not facts, I clearly have some work to do in examining that further.

I wouldn’t say I have an “iron clad case” for distrusting the actual world – it’s just a fear that came up.

VINEETO: So you are saying that the “empty dreary future” was a projected future as a feeling ‘being’ after having somehow banished the “hopes and dreams”?

It sounds as if you are in dire need to re-read the ‘instruction manual’ – This Moment of Being Alive – including the numerous helpful explanatory tooltips? It is a very informative article to help iron out any possible misunderstandings or ineffective usage/ habits one may have acquired about the actualism method.

The use of the actualism method has also been discussed here on the forum (see Actualvineeto-SC/Actualism Method pages 1-4) and in the Richard’s Selected Correspondence pages 1-6.

If, as you say, it was only “just a fear that came up”, then what is preventing you from feeling good right now? And before you contemplate about what you determine to be the trigger for a diminishment in feeling good, first get back to feeling good.

Richard: What the identity inhabiting this flesh and blood body all those years ago would do is first get back to feeling good and then, and only then, suss out where, when, how, why – and what for – feeling bad happened as experience had shown ‘him’ that it was counter-productive to do otherwise.

What ‘he’ always did however, as it was often tempting to just get on with life then, was to examine what it was all about within half-an-hour of getting back to feeling good (while the memory was still fresh) even if it meant sometimes falling back into feeling bad by doing so ... else it would crop up again sooner or later.

Nothing, but nothing, can be swept under the carpet. (Richard, Actual Freedom List, No. 68c, 31 May 2005).

DJ: Maybe a better question would be, in lieu of not having had a PCE that I can remember, how can I rememorate one – was there something that Richard did specifically that allowed him to help others to access their experiences?

VINEETO: Try this link (Sundry, FAQ, No. 64 “How Do I Induce a PCE?”). FAQs No. 5, No. 20, No. 57, No. 21 are also useful or whatever topic tickles your fancy in the index.